Concentrated hopped wort and process of producing same.



UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERBERT AMOS HOBSON, OF LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO THE CON- IOENTRATED BEER COMPANY, LIMITED, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

CONCENTRAT ED HOPPED WORT AND PROCESS OF PRODUCING SAME.

EPECIFICATION formingpart Cf Letters Patent NO. 718,253, dated January13, 1903.

Application filed July 27, 1900. Serial No. 25,015 (No specimens.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT AMOS HOBSON, analytical chemist, a subjectof the Queen of Great Britain, residing at 54 Church road,

Acton, London, England, have invented new and useful Improvements in aConcentrated Hopped Wort and Process of Producing the Same, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to the production of a hopped wort from whichbeer, either alcoholic or non-alcoholic, maybe produced by the mereaddition of yeast and water or of water alone, as the case may be.

In the ordinary brewing process the malt is first mashed and the hopsare then added to and boiled in the wort or extract of malt, with theresult that the bitter of the hop is unfavorably affected, objectionableresinous mat- .zo tors are extracted, and the volatile aroma of the hopsis to a great extent lost, and these undesirable results are partly dueto the length of time for which the boiling is continued and partly tothe high boiling-point of the liquor in which the hops are boiled. It isthe object of this invention to avoid these defects and to produce ahopped wort, preferably in a concentrated state, possessing the keepingqualities necessary for export purposes and adapted for the production,in the locality or country of consumption, of beer possessing thecharacteristic qualities of beer brewed in the ordinary manner.

In carrying out this invention it is preferred to first treat the hopsmechanically in order to separate therefrom the lupulin-z'. e., the

yellow powder commonly called flour or condition -which is collected forthe purpose of being subsequently added to the con- 0centratedhoppedwort. Itisthislupulinwhich gives to beer the realdistinctive aroma and fia- Vor of the hop, (other than the bitter,) andby its preliminary abstraction and subsequent addition not only is lossof aroma and flavor avoided, but the expense of dry-hopping that is tosay, the addition of dry hops of the best quality to the finishedbeer-is avoided.

This lupulin is, however, so adherent to new hops as to be hardlyseparable therefrom by the mechanical means; but the separation iseasily eflected in the case of old hops. New

hops-that is to say, hops less than six months old-should in any case bedried by a Warm air-current or in a stove until as crisp as hops fromsix to eight months old. In practice a mixture of old and dried newhopssay about two parts of old to one part of newis used, from whichabout half the total amount of lupulin present-that is to say, equal toabout three to five per cent. of the weight of the hopswould beseparated. This operation may be effected, for instance, by passing thehops through a mill formed of a drum-sieve provided with internalbeater-arms carried by the drum-shaft and revolving within the v drum,so as to break up the hop-flowers and set free the lupulin, which passesthrough the canvas or gauze. Whether the lupulin be so first separatedor not the hops are boiled or digested in plain water for a periodsuffi- 7o cient to extract the remaining useful properties of the hops.The quantity of Water used for this purpose should be as small aspossible consistently with the extraction of the de sired constituents.It is preferred to commence the operation with two pounds of hops to tengallons of water-1 c. two per cent. by weight-so that at the conclusionof the boiling or digestion the loss of water by evaporation will bringthe proportion up to from two and one-half per cent. to three per cent.of hops.

If a non-alcoholic beer is to be made, the mixture of hops and water isslowly heated to a temperature below boiling'say 200 Fahrenheitand wouldbe digested at that temperature for from two to three hours. If analcoholic beer is to be brewed, the mixture of hops and water would beslowly heated to boiling and be gently boiled for from about one andone-half to two and one-half hours. In either case the infusion of hopsthus obtained contains tannic acid and other substances which wouldretard or prevent the action of the malt diastase, upon which theformation of the malt extract depends, and it could 'not consequently beused in this state without serious loss of extract, particularly formashing a mixture of malt and grain. lo overcome this difficulty, theinfusion after being run off from the hops is digested for a few minuteswith about five per cent. to ten tirely harmless.

per cent. of spent malt (or it might be about the same proportion offresh malt specially mashed for the purpose) or some other substancecontaining the necessary albuminous matter, such as crushed wheat orcrushed barley mashed in warm water or an equivalent quantityof finingsor other gelatinous matter, whereupon the tannic acid combines with thealbuminous matter of the spent malt or other substance and is thusrendered en- The hop extract or liquor is then run off into the mash-tun(after, if necessary, straining the liquor from the precipitate orresidue) and the ground or crushed malt (or malt and grain) is thenadded and mashed in the hop liquor for the usual time or until thesoluble constituents and the constituents of the malt or malt and grainwhich have been rendered soluble under the influence of the diastase ofthe malt have been extracted by and dissolved in the liquor or until thenecessary proportions of malt, sugar, and dextrine have been obtained.The quantity of malt or of malt and grain (mixed in the proportionsordinarily used by brewers) so added to and mashed in the hop liquorshould be from twenty per cent. to thirty per cent. ,by weight,of theliquor, equal to from twenty pounds to thirty poundsper ten gallons. Itis then only necessary to bring the hopped malt-wort--i. 6., liquor andmalt-up to a temperature of from 205 to 212 Fahrenheit and keep it atthat temperature, say, for half an hour. If raw grain has been used withthe malt, the liquor is then let stand for about half an hour andpreferably stirred frequently. In either case the liquor is thenstrained off as clear as possible, and the hopped wort thus obtained isthen concentrated (preferably in vacuo) to the required strength. Theextent to which the concentration may be carried may be varied accordingto requirement, the limitation being the formation of a treacly orsemifiuid liquor when hot, which forms a stiff paste when cold. Usuallythe concentration would be to from one-tenth to one-fifteenth of thevolume of liquor placed in the concentrator. The flour or condition ofthe hop, (lupulin,) previously mentioned as having been abstracted atthe commencement of the operation, is added and thoroughly stirred intothe hopped wort just before the latter arrives at its final degree ofconcentration. The concentrated hopped wort is then put up in kegs ordrums for transport or export and will remain in good condition for anindefinite period. To produce a beverage therefrom, the necessaryquantity of concentrated hopped wort is dissolved in warm water and thesolution put into a cask or vat, which is then filled up with cold watersufficient in quantity to give the required specific gravity andtemperature, which are easily attained by using measured quantities.Yeast is added if an alcoholic beer is to be produced, the resultingprimary fermentation by which alcohol and carbonic-acid gas are formedbeing complete in about one or two weeks, according to temperature, andif the beer is then allowed to stand for a few days longer it becomesclear and continues to improve by keeping.

By this invention agreat saving in freightage on export to distantcountries may be effected and a finished beer may be readily produced incountries where owing to climatic or other conditions the ordinaryprocesses of brewing would be impracticable.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent 1. The herein-described process of producing a hoppedwort, which consists in first abstracting lupulin from hops then heatingthe remaining hops in water thus forming an extract or infusioncontaining tannic acid, then separating the infusion from the hops anddigesting it with a substance containing albuminous matter, causing saidmatter to combine with the tannic acid, thereupon separating the liquorand mashing malt (or malt and grain) therein,and finallyadding to theliquor, the lupulin abstracted at the outset.

2. The herein-described process of producing a hopped wort, whichconsists in first abstracting lupulin from hops, then heating theremaining'hops in water thus forming an extract or infusion containingtannic acid, then separating the infusion from the hops and digesting itwith a substance containing a1- buminous matter, causing said matter tocombine with the tannic acid, and finally separating the liquor andmashing malt (or malt and grain) therein.

3. The herein-described process of producing a hopped wort, whichconsists in first abstracting lupulin from hops, then heating theremaining hops in water thus forming an extract or infusion containingtannic acid, then separating the infusion from the hops and digesting itwith a substance containing albuminous matter, causing said matter tocombine with the tannic acid, thereupon separating the liquor andmashing malt (or malt and grain) therein, and finally adding lupulin tothe liquor.

4E. The herein-described process of producing a hopped wort, whichconsists in first abstracting lupulin from hops, then heating theremaining hops in water thus forming an ab stract orinfusion containingtannic acid, then separating the infusion from the hops and digesting itwith a substance containing albuminous matter, causing said matter tocombine with the tannic acid, thereupon separating the liquor andmashing malt (or malt and grain) therein, then concentrating the liquor,and finally adding lupulin thereto.

5. The herein-described process of producing a hopped wort, whichconsists in first heating hops in water, thus forming an extract orinfusion containing tannic acid, then separating the infusion from thehops and digesting it with a substance containing albuminous matter,causing said matter to combine with the tannic acid, and finallyseparating the liquor and mashing malt (or malt and grain) therein.

6. A concentrated hopped wort practically freefrom compounds of tannicacid with albuminoid matters. 7

7. A concentrated hopped Wort practically free from compounds of tannicacid with'alhuminoid matters,and containing hop-lupulin unchanged asregards its characteristic aroma and preservative properties.

8. A concentrated hopped wort free from hop-flowers, and containinghop-lupulin unaffected by boiling and therefore unchanged as regards itscharacteristic aroma and preservative properties.

9. A concentrated hopped wort free from hop-flowers and containing raw,unboiled, powdered hop-lupulin suspended in the Wort, and thereforeunchanged as regards its characteristic aroma and preservativeproperties.

10. The process of manufacturing a hopped Wort, which consists, first,in digesting hops in hot water to produce an infusion of hops; second,in straining off said infusion from the hops; third, in mashing malt (ormalt and grain) in said infusion of hops itself as the mashing liquor,and, fourth, in straining off the wort from the insoluble residue.

11. The process of manufactnring'a hopped Wort, which consists, first,in digesting fresh or new hops in hot water to produce an infusion ofhops; second, in straining ofi said infusion from the hops; third,inmashing malt (or malt and grain) in said infusion of hops itself as themashing liquor, and, fourth, in straining off the wort from theinsoluble residue.

12. The process of manufacturing a hopped wort, which consists, first,in digesting hops in hot water to produce an infusion of hops; second,in straining off said infusion from the hops; third, in adding analbuminous substance to the hop infusion for the purpose specified;fourth, in mashing malt (or. malt and grain) in said infusion of hops,and, fifth,

in straining off the wort from the insoluble residue. r

13. The process of manufacturing a hopped wort, which consists, first,in digesting hops in hot water to produce an infusion of hops;

second, in straining off said infusion from the hops; third, in addingan albuminous substance to the hop infusion, for the purpose specified,and separating the resulting precipitate from the hop infusion; fourth,in mashing malt (or malt and grain) in said infusion of hops, and,fifth, in straining off the wort from the insoluble residue.

HERBERT AMOS HOBSON. Witnesses:

T. W. KENNARD, M. R. SPIER.

